After that the dark

There is something that Tennyson and Tolkien both grasp, and it is that death is a great adventure. Not always is there adventure in getting there, sometimes it can be quite boring. But no matter how one dies, whether it is as a hero, as a scoundrel, or quietly in bed, our deaths share something in common: we face the unknown. Sure, our faith informs us of a few things about death: our judgment, heaven and hell. But we don't know what heaven and hell will be like, we don't know what we will experience. We know heaven will be the beatific vision, we'll see God as he is. We know hell will be our eternal separation from God, self-chosen. But how will we experience that? Your guesses or dreams are as good as mine. Until then, we live our lives here on Earth, hopefully looking toward death in hope. Like children waiting for Christmas, we eagerly await that which Tolkien called the gift of men.

memento mori

One clear call for me

Keeping my priorities straight is a huge struggle for me as a Christian, and I imagine that I am not alone in this. Even in my Church, it seems that American middle class values are the gold standard when it comes to what one should want and strive for in life: a nice house, nice clothes, eating out now and then, skiing and other sports that require you to spend money, a comfortable retirement, paying in full for your kid's college tuition (it goes without saying your kids will go to college), a nice house with nice furniture, and plenty of stuff inside it. In the Dec. 2010 issue of Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Prof. N. of Wyoming Catholic College described this mindset perfectly as being "slightly self-serving," while claiming the banner of prudence. Sure, we value charitable works and raising our children in the faith and receiving the sacraments often. When we buy a new car, we'll donate the old one... we'll purge our closets of last year's fashions and give them to the needy. But we'll still hold on to our vacations, our big screen TV, etc. Because we want to be comfortable, because we don't want very much trouble.

Yet even a cursory reading of the Gospels shows that while this world is here for us to enjoy, it's not what we are here for. The most important motivating factors in our life must be the theological virtues: faith, hope and love. We must live our lives focused on Heaven as our home, seeing things of this world for that which it is: passing. For it is in Heaven where we will find our ultimate happiness, our greatest joy. And enjoyable though this world is, Christ was upfront that we'd have trouble here, that we'd suffer, that we'd be persecuted, and that those were all good things for us!

Yet it is this world where we live and act, this world where we are stuck until our death, and this world which offers us tangible consolations for the time being. It is hard to pull ourselves out of ourselves and shake off our own desires and completely abandon ourselves to God's will, desiring to be poor in spirit, persecuted for his sake, etc.

So, how do we set our priorities? How do we live out the virtue of Charity? How do we see the pursuit of the riches and comforts of this world as a chase after the wind?